Green Hospital: Paper for Package of Medicine (The Advantages, Disadvantages, and Feasibility)

Abstract

Introduction – Package has many functions for what is packed. Package provides physical protection for materials that protect it from temperature, pressure, shock, or physical contact. The most common package materials that used to package the medicine is plastic. Plastic packaging consists of two types those are primary packaging and pharmaceutical waste. Paper is a natural fiber products derived from cellulose fiber networks that in turn is derived from wood resources. Compared to plastic, paper is a novelty in the field of medicine packaging and so far only used for food packaging.Advantages – Paper packaging is one alternative packaging relatively cheapest than other types of packaging. The paper also has a light weight so it does not provide significant additional weight to the product. In addition, a paper-based laminate composites can improve the storage time of the product so that it can be used for packaging that require a modified atmosphere.Disadvantages – Paper is suitable for bringing solid products that do not require a very high limit characteristic. Paper is able to make migration of nitrates to products that contained thus requiring additional materials as a coating. In addition, the paper is vulnerable to radiation. Irradiation toward the paper material cause this material loses its mechanical characteristic and heat can penetrate into the product.Feasibility – Developments in materials science have produced some important innovations. Packaging paper-based composites have been developed for packing materials that have strict boundary conditions, including medicines. This is done by coating the paper with polymer coating materials that is not decompose as polyethylene (PE), waxes, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polibutilene terephtalate (PBT). However, non-biodegradable polymers give environmental impacts that actually wanted to be avoided by plastic packaging. The alternatives of paper look promising to overcome the ecological problems. Its application as a medicine package made possible by coating with a material that can be abstracted from biological sources.Discussion – The plastic has weaknesses, particularly related to environmental issues. The use of paper can overcome these problems and the development in the field of materials science provides the possibility for application in the field of drug packaging. Regardless of the method of production, the use of paper is better than plastic because it is easily decomposed, even if it is coated with a specific material for medical purposes such as hydrocolloids and fatty substances. The alternatives of paper look promising to overcome the ecological problems. Its application as a medicine package made possible by coating with a material that can be abstracted from biological sources. Nevertheless, the real impact of paper and plastic in global warming is still debated. Therefore, for the application of medicine package, is not only should be tested for feasibility in protecting medicine, including escape from the impurity (impurity), but also the feasibility of reducing the risk of global warming.